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“since – From “Swimming Lessons” by Pat Paulk February 10 February 17 February 24 March 2 March 9 March 16: Palm / Passion Sunday March 20: Holy Thursday March 23: Easter Sunday The Pastoral Corner: "We Can End Homelessness " After almost 35 years of being the pastor of city churches, I had come to think that there really wasn’t much you could do to make life significantly better for the mentally ill and addicted who live on our streets. Then a neighboring minister shared with me the story of the Times Square Hotel in New York City and the organization Common Ground. Led by Rosanne Haggerty, who studied the writings of the monk Thomas Merton in college, Common Ground raised the money to buy the Times Square , which had become a welfare hotel in horrendous condition, and to transform it into the beautiful home of 652 low-income people, half of whom were formerly homeless people considered beyond help. Social services and other support were provided within the hotel, and Common Ground discovered that if you made it easier for people to get help, they took advantage of the services and achieved stability. Now, Common Ground’s groundbreaking Street to Home program has reduced street homelessness by 87% in New York City ’s 20-block Times Square neighborhood, and by 43% in the surrounding 230 blocks of West Midtown. Common Ground is now working with local groups in 15 cities to provide alternatives that work for our most chronically homeless citizens. Foundry is working with other congregations who are part of the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) to advocate for supportive housing for the homeless in Washington , DC . The mayor has agreed to work with us to develop 2,500 units of supportive housing, but we will need to continue to organize and advocate. We will need to work with the homeless men and women who come to our church for services to make sure they have the opportunity to find supportive housing. We will have to make sure nobody falls through the cracks. Through Susanna Wesley House, our Walk-In Mission, Sandwich 500, our Community Mission, Martha Table, Christ House, N Street Village, and in other ways, Foundry has been a pioneer in ministry with the homeless. Now it is time to end homelessness in Washington , DC . It is possible. Members of WIN churches in Ward 2 will be meeting with our Council Member Jack Evans, who is a Foundry member, on Wednesday evening, March 12, to discuss supportive housing. I encourage you to participate in this conversation. I have invited Rosanne Haggerty to speak here at Foundry on Sunday, April 27, at our 9:30 and 11:00 am services. Bring a friend or a neighbor. Now that we know something can be done, we need to do it. Foundry and Washington Interfaith Network: Campaign for Supportive Housing Foundry continues to join with other downtown churches to advocate for supportive housing to specifically address the needs of people who are chronically homeless in the District of Columbia . Supportive housing is housing which combines services with housing for people who face challenges of mental health issues, addictions, unemployment, and other issues. It can take the form of a Housing First model, such as Pathways to Housing, which advocates housing people first and then providing the services they need to stay in the housing. Or it can take the form of programs such as N Street Village and So Others Might Eat (SOME), in which people transition through various programs until they are in a stable situation but are still in need of services to maintain that stability. Foundry members joined other WIN churches at the city-wide action in November 2007 where Mayor Fenty announced his first commitments in the supportive housing strategy. The long-term commitment is 2,500 units of supportive housing. The first year commitment is to house 350 of the downtown homeless in supportive housing, in addition to 150 units in a Catholic Charities project on public land downtown. The supportive housing strategy is part of a larger WIN agenda which includes affordable housing preservation led by the Ward 1 churches. This includes a campaign to preserve affordable rental housing through city right of first refusal legislation, section 8 right of first refusal legislation, and build new affordable housing for home ownership with a 30% minimum on all public parcels, and 5,000 Nehemiah units. The next step is an action with Ward 2 churches with Councilman Jack Evans, where we hope to secure commitments relating to $117 million in new revenue for affordable housing, the commitment to a downtown shelter, and the supportive housing strategy including potential locations in Ward 2. The action with Jack Evans will be on Wednesday March 12, at 7:00 pm at Church of the Pilgrims. Foundry has committed at least 30 people to attend this action. Foundry’s WIN team is also working on an effort to ask the city to provide vouchers for free birth certificates and non-driver’s ids’ for persons staying in shelters and those applying for public housing. Such programs do exist in other localities in Virginia . Currently DC residents in need make several trips from provider to provider in order to get the assistance they need, delaying their access to housing, health care, and employment. Foundry is one of three places in the city where low income residents can receive financial support for these documents, but we often must turn people away because the demand for this service is so great. In addition, Foundry and WIN churches will be strategizing on our “Turn Out the Vote Campaign” for the Council elections this fall. WIN’s ability to increase voter turnout in the precincts in which we work has been a crucial component of our ability to have a strong voice on neighborhood issues in the city. In April, we will have another city-wide action with Mayor Fenty. Then, on Sunday, April 27th, Rosanne Haggerty, from Common Ground will be preaching at Foundry. Rosanne Haggerty is a winner of a MacArthur Fellowship for her outstanding work on ending homelessness in New York City and in cities throughout the country. Last February, Foundry member Logan Alley and Minister of Missions Jana Meyer accompanied a group from WIN churches in Washington DC to visit Common Ground projects in New York City . To get involved with Foundry’s WIN team, contact Bo Billups at (202) 431-4052 or BBillups@cbmove.com ; or Gwen Johnson at (202) 986-1969. Holy Week at Foundry Holy Thursday, March 20 Good Friday, March 21 (Childcare will be provided for the evening service.) Easter Sunday, March 23 In between worship hours, children can participate in the annual Foundry Easter egg hunt. We hope that your prayerful journey through this season will enrich your spiritual life and enable you better to follow Christ in the “new life” that is ours as a result of Christ’s resurrection. Pedro Cruz: Day Laborer Organizer in Washington DC
For the past three years, Foundry volunteers have been involved in three areas of ministry with day laborers: weekly outreach visits to day laborer sites at 15th & P Streets, NW, and Home Depot with sandwiches and water / hot chocolate; supporting the work of the Union de Trabajadores through their weekly meetings; and providing ESL classes on Tuesday evenings. Foundry has also celebrated Labor Sunday with a bilingual service and fellowship lunch with the Union de Trabajadores. The Union de Trabajadores de Washington DC (Washington DC Workers Union) was formed by day laborers to build unity, to advocate for their rights, and to work towards a permanent workers center. The Union has elected its own leadership and meets weekly at Foundry. Different activities of the Union have included their campaign for a worker’s center, a soccer tournament, health fairs in collaboration with La Clinica del Pueblo, and educational events. The Union is supported by volunteers from different community organizations, including Foundry, Jobs with Justice, Employment Justice Center , the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, Washington Lawyer’s Committee, AFSC, and the Capital Area Food Bank. Both the Washington Lawyer’s Committee and the Employment Justice Center have been particularly important in providing legal assistance for the many cases when day laborers are not paid for their work. Until this time, Washington , DC , has been the only locality in the metropolitan area that does not have a dedicated day laborer organizer. The work has relied on the support of volunteers and the workers themselves. In order for the work to move forward, more attention was needed. Through an initial grant from Foundry of $7,500 (which came from the new initiative funds and an individual donation), Jobs with Justice has hired a part time day laborer organizer, Pedro Cruz. More grant applications are in process. This represents a significant commitment by Jobs with Justice to support day laborers, both through Pedro’s position, as well as through Mackenzie Baris, lead organizer, who will support the campaign for a worker’s center. DC Jobs with Justice (www.dcjwj.org) is a coalition of labor organizations, community groups, religious organizations and student groups dedicated to protecting the rights of working people and supporting community struggles to build a more just society. Pedro became involved with the jornaleros (day laborers) in DC through his old job at Habitat for Humanity shortly after he moved to DC three years ago. Pedro says that “as an immigrant myself – originally from the Dominican Republic – I am strongly identified with the needs of this population. Regardless of their immigrant status I recognize the contribution that most of them give to our community and how vulnerable they are to abuses because they’re not fully aware of their rights as workers.” Pedro has a longstanding commitment to social justice and working with low income communities in Mexico , Puerto Rico , Dominican Republic , and the United States . He has been involved with the living wage campaign at Georgetown University and with the Living Wage Action Coalition. Reflecting on how this background relates to his current work with day laborers, Pedro says that “From these experiences I witnessed how people from different backgrounds come together to find solutions to common problems and how that strengthens the group as well as the individuals.” Pedro’s work as an organizer will focus on supporting the leadership of the Union ; helping to identify and engage more leadership to strengthen the membership; and working to build bridges with the neighborhood. A short term goal working with the jornaleros will be to help the workers achieve a sense of belonging to the Union de Trabajadores. In addition to Pedro’s work, the Washington Lawyers Committee has also hired an organizer / paralegal, Sarahi Uribe, who will be focusing on legal outreach but also working with Pedro in strengthening the Union . From taking sandwiches to 15th and P, to supporting a day laborer organizer to work with the Union de Trabajadores, Foundry’s work with day laborers continues to move forward in new and exciting directions. Thank you for your support of this ministry. To get involved with Foundry’s day labor outreach, contact Janis Bowdler at yourfavoritejan@gmail.com. How Foundry Helped Change My Life
This year, I joined another VIM trip, to Alabama , and was exhilarated at encountering very different, very poor Americans. And then I joined the VIM trip to Nicaragua , again despite doubts that I would fit in with the group (mostly beautiful young women!). But when I got to Nicaragua – three days early, to immerse myself – I suddenly realized that THIS was the answer to what I had been searching for, over two long, depression-filled years: living and working with young people and children in a very poor country. So, in February, I quit my job, and in March, I'll leave for Managua for the rest of the year, to teach orphaned youths English. (My limited ESL experience is another thing I owe to Foundry, since I had joined Foundry's ESL program for immigrant workers.) In the next phase of my life, I will be a teacher instead of a newspaperman, and I'll work with poor countries instead of rich ones. And all of this came about thanks to my involvement with Foundry! I never thought that attending a church could change my life in this way. Bring a Friend to Foundry
Over the years we have often heard from new members that many of them came to Foundry and eventually joined because of the invitation of someone they knew. Perhaps that is how you found yourself here. As we continue to celebrate our Lenten journey with the Mozart Requiem and with the moving services of Holy Week and Easter, let’s be mindful that some people we know may be looking for a place to worship or open to checking us out. Bring a friend to Foundry. If each one of us invited at least one other person to join us for a service, who knows what might happen!
Applications are available for two Foundry scholarships for the 2008-09 academic year. The two awards, offered to Foundry members and their families, are the Alida Smith Memorial Scholarship, for students attending or admitted to a degree-track program at an accredited college or university; and the Edward W. Bauman Scholarship for a member attending or admitted to a seminary who plans to enter Christian ministry full-time after graduation. Beginning on Sunday, March 2, applications for both scholarships will be available on the table outside the church office, and at www.foundryumc.org. All applications must be returned by U.S. mail, postmarked on or before May 3. Please direct questions to Emily Sama Martin , Scholarship Committee Convener, at emsama@gmail.com or (202) 363-4899. Help Us Make Our Stewardship Goal We have now* received 424 pledges amounting to $1,289,857 which puts us $160,000 short of our goal of $1,450,000. We are at 89% of our target.
Only you can decide what is possible and appropriate for you as you make your decision about your pledge. Every gift makes a difference – no matter what amount. The pledge total to date is composed of many diverse gifts. We encourage those who have previously pledged to increase their pledge this year by 8% if you are able. If you have not pledged before, we hope you do so this year. Pledge cards can be found in the pews and at the office. You can also pledge online at www.foundryumc.org. * As of February 13, 2008 . Messages from the Foundry Family The recent announcement about the birth of Anna Blair Pearce mentioned only her maternal grandparents. Her parents are Molly (Bickel) and Chris Pearce. Both are lifelong/longtime Foundry members. Chris’ parents were the late Mitsuko and Bill Pearce, also longtime Foundry members. So, Anna has deep Foundry roots! ˜ ˜ ˜ “I appreciate all the calls, cards, prayers, and expressions of concern on the death of my sister, Helen. Thank you and God bless.” – Jean Pucher Choir Musical Offering for Lent: "Requiem Mass in D Minor" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Both Services – February 24, 2008
The Foundry Choirs, soloists, and orchestra, under the direction of Stanley Thurston , will present this choral masterwork as part of our Lenten Series on Sunday, February 24. Join us for these Special Lenten Music Worship Services at 9:30 & 11:00 am. Save the Date: Concert for Life to be April 25th That’s Amore! Songs of Love Friday, April 25 th, 208 Volunteers needed: corporate fundraising; ticket sales/receipts; To volunteer, contact: Ted Tym czyszyn, ted_tymczyszyn@hotmail.com or at (703) 528-9062. Save the Date: Mission Retreat in May
Community, Saturday, May 31, 2008 More details to come! |
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Scripture passages from the Gospel of Matthew encourage us to venture into the deep and to trust the water to hold us. These sermons are about venturing into deeper water – in our spiritual life and in our mission engagement in the world. 
Now that I know that it is possible to help the chronically homeless find stability in their lives through supportive housing, it is almost unbearable to see a crowd of them sleeping outside the Canadian Embassy Sunday mornings as I walk to church. While the people who sleep on our church steps usually arrive after I go home and leave before I get here, it is heart-breaking to think people are spending their nights on the cold stone of our entryway. 
Foundry’s ministry with day laborers has entered an exciting new phase through its support of a new day laborer organizer position at Jobs with Justice. 
I started attending Foundry 2-½ years ago, at the end of a more than five-year, intense romantic relationship. It was hard at first – many times, I cried when certain hymns were sung. But I persevered, attracted in part by Dean Snyder 's sermons, which impressed me with their deep psychological insight. I joined one of the mission committees, despite reservations, and then participated – I don't remember why – in my first VIM trip, to New Orleans . I felt apprehensive about joining a hymn-singing, prayer-happy group, but I survived. Doing hard physical work – sweat streaming down my face like a river – was a relief. 
We are beginning to get good information from these efforts. We are learning about the effectiveness of our print ads, our website, and our exterior signage. However, the overwhelming reason why visitors come is because “a friend invited me.”
Foundry United Methodist Church
1500 16th Street, NW * Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 332-4010 * Fax: (202) 332-4035
Email: foundryumc@foundryumc.org
Web: www.foundryumc.org
Pastoral Care Emergency Phone
(after normal office hours): (202) 306-2659